


Let Me Help

by NextTrickAnvils



Category: Persona 5
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Suicide attempt, Ryuann Week 2k19
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-10-23 05:20:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17677160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NextTrickAnvils/pseuds/NextTrickAnvils
Summary: “Hey I’m sorry to dump this on you but… can I stay the night?”“...Yeah sure.”





	Let Me Help

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Day 7 of Ryuann Week on Tumblr/Twitter. Theme I picked was: Comfort.

“Hey ma? I thought you were gonna be working all...”

 

Ryuji opened the door and instead of his mother, he was greeted with the sight of Ann carrying a duffle bag and wearing a tank top and some yoga pants.

 

“Hey I’m sorry to dump this on you but… can I stay the night?”

 

“...Y-yeah sure.”

 

* * *

 

Ryuji could tell that something was obviously bothering Ann but it was also obvious that she wasn’t ready to talk about it.

 

With that in mind, he grabbed some ice cream from the freezer and asked Ann if there was anything she wanted to watch or play.

 

The two proceeded to spend a chunk of the night playing games together with mixed results.

 

“Geez Ann, you suck!”

 

“I’d like to see you try playing a game and eating ice cream at the same time.” Ann replied with the spoon still in her mouth

 

“Or maybe ya should, I dunno, do one at a time?”

 

“You underestimate my abilities Sakamoto!~”

 

Ryuji just glances at the flashing of **_*PLAYER 1 WINS*_ **on the screen and smirks.

 

“Sure I am.”

 

Ann sticks her tongue out before finishing off her ice cream.

 

But as nice as this night’s been, he couldn’t let Ann bottle up whatever’s bothering her. So Ryuji puts down his controller and looks at Ann with a concerned expression.

 

“Hey ya know that ya can talk to me right? I mean if ya don’t wanna that’s fine too. But I’m right here.”

 

He looked at Ann for a response and when she didn’t give one right away, Ryuji went back to his controller.

 

“I said goodbye to Shiho today.”

 

He turned back to Ann who was now stirring her empty ice cream cup.

 

“Oh… how’s she doin’?”

 

“She’s doing better, she’s obviously still healing from everything but… she was happy...”

 

Ryuji could tell that there was more Ann needed to say. He gives her a look to tell her to keep going and she continues.

 

“To be honest though...I… I don’t know how to feel about all this. I mean: I’m glad she’s still alive and recovering and I’m glad she’s going to have another chance somewhere else but...”

 

“You don’t want her to go?”

 

Ann briefly looked away and bit her lip.

 

“That’s… that’s part of it. But I… I also keep thinking about why she’s leaving. Th-that horrible day when she... And… there’s still a part of me that blames myself for what happened. That it’s my fault that...”

 

In an instant, Ryuji practically lunged forward and Ann found herself wrapped in his arms.

 

“DON’T YOU EVER BLAME YOURSELF FOR THAT! It wasn’t your fault. You didn't hurt Shiho and she's not going away because of you. That's all Kamoshida's fault.”

 

"I-I know, I know. You’re right… I know you’re right but… sometimes I wonder if there was anything I could’ve done to save her or...”

 

As Ann starts crying into his shoulder, Ryuji tightens his hold on her. He starts digging in his mind for what his mom would do for him when he was upset like this and soon starts running his fingers through her hair.

 

“It’s okay Ann, it’s okay. Hey… I’m… I’m gonna tell you something that I never told anyone else, okay? So this has to stay between us.”

 

Ann nods as she pulls away and Ryuji takes a deep breath.

 

“First night after my dad up and left when I was eight… I went to my mom’s room and asked if I could share the bed. She let me up and held me and… and at some point… I asked her if it was my fault that dad left.”

 

Ryuji lets out a small humorless chuckle over Ann’s surprised expression.

 

“Yeah I know right? But at the time, I didn’t really get why he got so violent and with all the insults he threw at me, I figured that it was because I did something wrong.”

 

“...Ryuji...”

 

“Anyway, my ma told me… well she kept it simple for me. My dad wasn’t a good man and that what happened with him wasn’t my fault or her fault. She… she also told me how much she loved me and how she was gonna take care of me and support me. I guess… what I’m tryna say is… I know what that’s like. Hell I still feel like I was the one who screwed over the Track Team rather than Kamoshida sometimes. And it sucks thinking like that. But ma and Akira and all of you guys, you’re helping me tryna get past that. So… I guess.. I wanna help you too.”

 

Ann stared at Ryuji before she started crying again and pulled him back into a hug.

 

The two sat like that; saying nothing for a long while.

 

* * *

 

Manami let out a large yawn as she unlocked the apartment door. She was looking forward to getting some rest and making breakfast with Ryuji later.

 

However as she came in, she immediately noticed another pair of shoes by the entrance. Now Ryuji didn’t need permission from her to invite his friends over but he always made sure that she knew if someone was just coming by to visit, let alone staying the night. At least they still had that spare futon.

 

Manami quietly tiptoed over to her son’s room and gently opened his door a crack to peek inside. To her surprise, there was no spare futon. But there was Ryuji sharing his bed with and wrapping his arms around that nice Ann girl.

 

She simply smiled and closed the door.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this week as much as I enjoyed writing/drawing for it.
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr @ http://nexttrickanvils.tumblr.com/


End file.
